Just So You Know

I want to be very clear up front that this story was in no way inspired by Harry Potter.

Oh yes, I did read the first five of those novels when I was a child (I skipped out on the last two), so I’m sure that there are some subconscious influences going on there, but this story was, in fact, heavily inspired by some of my favorite JRPGs (Japanese Role-Playing Games), from which I borrowed several fun tropes. It was only after I began editing the book that I realized just how many tropey similarities there are between the HP franchise and my beloved classic video games. I suspect That Author and I may have drawn inspiration from similar places. Ah, well.

I have no interest in reading or in homaging anything written by a transphobic, hateful bigot like the author of the HP books. This magical school has nothing whatsoever to do with her magical school.

Normally I’d feel no need to make a statement like this, but in light of the horrific things she’s said and done, I’d like openly and loudly to keep as much distance from her as possible. Thank you for understanding.

Also, absolutely no generative AI was used in the creation of this book. I wrote every word myself, and any mistakes you may find are honest, human mistakes. I commissioned the cover from a cover service which assures me that they use no generative AI in the design process. The audiobook, when released, will be narrated by the brilliant and very human Julio Maxwell.

Thank you.

Now, we can get on with the fun part!

Sincerely and enthusiastically in solidarity with the trans and asexual communities,

Arielle